About Me + Random Thoughts

One of my favorite buildings in the new town happens to be the (award-winning) building that houses the YMCA AND our branch of the public library - under the same roof - talk about sound mind and body!

A spur-of-the-moment drop in to Barrie's Asparagus Farm (which actually has a LOT more going on than just that one delicious crop). Shot a 'portrait' of one lone asparagus tip that somehow survived the last cutting, but I'm afraid his time is coming soon. Also, the corn is just getting started.... Great operation - more to come!

From a recent photo shoot for a restaurant design client, here's Ushabu, a traditional shabu-shabu (Japanese fondue) restaurant in Cleveland's trendish Tremont neighborhood. Beautiful interior, thanks to my client! Kate and I also had the opportunity to eat there after the shoot was over - delicious. If you've never had shabu-shabu, you have to try it. Shaved meats and veggies served raw with a boiling broth - you swish-swish (shabu-shabu) the meat and veggies in the broth for just a few seconds to cook a few bites at a time, add noodles or rice, spoon out the broth to make soup, etc - very fun.

So, in 2008, Ontario banned the use of cosmetic pesticides, due to their calamitous effect on honeybee colonies and durable nature, as they collect in soil and do not break down. I've yet to see a report on the effect on Ontario's bee population, but I can tell you this: The dandelion must be considered the official flower of the Province by now.....

In my efforts to learn about my new home's food and restaurant scene, I undertook the arduous task of attending the Waterloo Region Food and Drink Show, put on by Grand River Shows. There were a ton of great exhibitors, including local restaurants, breweries and winemakers, as well as other businesses such as restaurant supply, caterers and food trucks, all with their wares available to be sampled.

Last year I had the great pleasure to photograph a couple of restaurants in the Cleveland, OH area - BOMBA Tacos and Rum - that feature Cubano cuisine, lovely drinks, and great ambiance. The ambiance is largely thanks to my client, Richardson Design. Their work, via my photos, is featured in the recent issue of Visual Merchandising and Store Design (VMSD).

Although the F2T is a personal project, I'm happy to see some of the 'fruit' of the project be useful to a local partner. Foodlink publishes a yearly map to help consumers find great local food, and the 2017 map cover will feature one of my shots of Elmira's Own lovely tomatoes.

So, yesterday was my first time on a farm where they measured their greenhouse space in terms of acreage, rather than sq feet.

Elmira's Own is a year-round operation that combines very high-tech methods - color-specific LED lighting, compressed peat, CO2 emission recycled from the boiler stack - with Mennonite family tradition, to produce some of the best-looking tomatoes I've ever seen, and LOTS of them.

​More to come, showing how these little jewels end up on some of the best-looking plates in the region...